For a few months, everything was going well—very well, really. Cortina was successful in her new job, the children were settled, her new domestic arrangements suited her, and she was immensely proud of her little house, which she was transforming into a home. Life felt comfortable and controllable. Letters still arrived from California, keeping her dream alive and filling her life with love. However, she could not escape the unending counsel of those who knew her secret. She was told to think of her children, to be responsible, to be grateful for everything she already had. She was urged to give up the supposed nonsense of a future life with a man she had only known for one summer.

Eventually, she wrote to ‘Him’, regurgitating the wisdom that had steadily eroded her resolve. She informed him that she could no longer continue the relationship or the dream. There was some exchange of letters; he was clearly devastated but accepted her decision with a broken heart.

A couple of weeks later, Cortina received another letter from ‘Him’, informing her that he was returning to the UK for a few days and asking to see her one more time. They agreed to meet at the usual hotel near the airport, but this time Cortina insisted on driving herself and meeting him there rather than travelling together. The evening was pleasant enough. It was subdued, but she was relieved there were no pleas for her to change her mind. He explained that he had no fixed base and that his job allowed him to live either here or further south. He had returned to buy a house in this area before heading back to California, where his stay had been extended. Apparently, he had chosen a new build and would be returning to the builder on Monday to initiate the buying process.

As the evening drew to a close and it was time for Cortina to leave, they walked together to her car. The cold February night air chilled them as they moved towards the vehicle. They stood there, next to the car, with the door open, suspended in an unspoken moment. Cortina was paralyzed. Her mind raced with the words she should say, but none would form. She was powerless to leave, rooted to the spot by an invisible force she couldn’t explain.

The advice from her friends, her carefully crafted decision to let him go, the logic that had driven her letter—none of it seemed to matter now. ‘Him’ was waiting for her to speak, to move, but she couldn’t. The distance she had tried to build between them crumbled in that moment, as if it had never existed.

Cortina did not go home that night. The following morning, they visited the show home for the house, currently just a plot on a map, he was intending to buy. Cortina found herself visualising and planning a life there with him—deciding which child would have which bedroom, imagining the little details of their future. ‘Him’ tagged along, mesmerised by each comment from Cortina, each one bringing home to him the realisation that the impossible was happening.

And then, once again, he was gone. But before he left, he proposed a plan. Cortina and the children could join him in California for the final three months of his work secondment. To his delight, Cortina embraced the idea with enthusiasm, her resolve clear and unshakable. What had once seemed like a distant dream now felt within reach, as if it had been waiting for this moment to come alive.

For six weeks, Cortina busied herself with the practicalities of walking away from the life she had carefully pieced together. Although she would eventually return to the area, she was leaving her job, giving up her house, and taking the children out of school for three months. Every detail had to be meticulously timed and carried out under a cloak of secrecy. Only two people knew of her plan, as their involvement was essential to its execution. Cortina was determined to take no chances.

She prepared a letter for her husband, sold her car, left enough money to cover the mortgage for three months, obtained schoolwork from the children’s teachers, and wrote a letter to their father explaining where they would be and when they would return. In secret, she packed enough clothes for the three of them, concealing her intentions until the final moment.

Then, one Friday, Cortina summoned all the bravery and faith that had always made her unique. She left work for the last time, picked up the children from school, and, with the help of her friend, was driven to the familiar hotel near the airport. There, she spent the night before boarding a plane bound for Boston, and then another Los Angeles. With two children under ten, no money, and no credit card, she set off across half the world to meet a man she barely knew but loved with an intensity that defied reason.

In just 36 hours, surely the most pivotal of her life, Cortina demonstrated a bravery that can only be described as a profound act of faith, driven by love and determination and underwritten by intuition. Her courage lay in her willingness to leave behind the familiar, take extraordinary risks, and trust her heart in the pursuit of a better future. She embraced uncertainty, shouldered immense responsibility, and defied societal expectations and personal fears to follow what she deeply believed was right. It was a leap of faith, rooted in unwavering resolve and an unshakable love.

Finally, after an exhausting period of preparation and two gruelling flights, Cortina and her children stepped off the plane in Los Angeles. There he was, at the gate, laden with flowers for her, helium balloons for the children, and a grin as wide as any Cheshire cat’s. He drove them to the apartment that would be their home for the next three months, and everyone quickly settled in.

It was not long before the children were sound asleep, and although Cortina tried to stay awake a little longer, exhaustion soon claimed her as well. ‘Him’ lay beside her for hours, watching her sleep, utterly mesmerised. He could hardly believe she was truly there with him. How could he have been so lucky?

Life in California was wonderful. Mornings were spent helping the children with their schoolwork and writing their weekly letters to their dad. Afternoons were filled with time by the pool or walks to the mall for ice cream or frozen yogurt. On his days off, they visited theme parks and other family attractions, making every moment memorable. Cortina, as always, was well-liked, and they made several new friends. But, as with all good things, their time there came to an end, and they returned to the UK, where a far less warm reception awaited them.

The children’s father gave Cortina a court order as she had unwittingly ignored a clause in the divorce settlement by taking the children out of the country without his permission. Something he did at least twice a year when he took them to Spain to visit his mother. A pointless exercise for which they both had to pay for solicitors and barristers. However, to his credit, he worked cooperatively with Cortina on all child-related matters thereafter.

Her once-lovely house had been physically trashed and was in such an appalling state: filthy, unsanitary, and reeking of neglect. Even her friend, who had initially tried to help clean, had eventually given up. The mortgage had not been paid, despite Cortina leaving funds in the account. To make matters worse, the account had been emptied, and an overdraft had been growing.

Her return to old friendships was equally challenging, with a mixed reception from those she had known before. Few approved, and the others, possibly inconvenienced by the new situation or, in some cases, perhaps annoyed at their loss of influence over her life, drifted away, as fair-weather friends always do.

With the children staying temporarily with their dad, Cortina and ‘Him’ moved into their new house with little more than an inflatable mattress and a kettle. They lived out of suitcases, which one builder, fixing snags in the house, thought was an invitation to steal Cortina’s underwear.

Life had, without question, been reset. They were starting again with nothing. They had a house but little to put in it, a job but a 95% mortgage with an interest rate over 10%. Cortina’s house had been trashed, its mortgage left unpaid for months. There were legal bills to cover her costs when her ex-husband took her to court, and they had no mutual support network of friends. Yet they had a roof over their heads, and they could feed the children. So, together, they began to build their home, their network of friends, and their life.

But Cortina wasn’t finished. She had one more moment that belonged entirely to her, one more surprise, one enormous gift for ‘Him’. In her eyes, he had given her everything, a notion that floored him when he found out, for, in his heart and mind, he was the lucky one. However, she was desperate to give him something special that he had never had.

It was a Friday. ‘Him’ had just driven for hours to be back in time to go out for dinner to celebrate his mother’s 60th birthday. As soon as he walked into the house, Cortina took him to another room and showed him a plastic thing with a blue line, which meant nothing to him. It was, of course, a positive pregnancy test. While they were in California, Cortina had decided that the ultimate gift she would give him was a child. He was so surprised, happy, and disbelieving that he insisted on testing two more times before letting the news sink in.

The final piece was in place, and with all the other meaningful references, Meatloaf’s song For Crying Out Loud became their anthem—an almost autobiographical track that seemed to echo their journey.

“For taking in the sun when I’m feeling so cold

For giving me a child when my body is old
And don’t you know for that I need you”

It was the one piece of music that could never be played without ‘Him’ singing along to Cortina. He did so with enthusiasm but no talent, even so she cherished those moments which is a good thing considering how long of a track it is.

And so, just as with the previous summer, the rest of their lives became a splendid tapestry of moments. They endured plenty of challenges, stress, and pain, as most people do, but they always faced them together, hand in hand. They had many great adventures and cherished moments, but they never had big dreams or ambitions. Instead, they let life wash over them like the tide of inevitability it is, living each moment as it came. They stayed strong together. Of course, there were upsets between them, but not once did a day end without their resolving any differences. Cortina made sure of that.

They were well-grounded and well-suited to handle the essentials of day-to-day life together. He was practical and logical, while she was creative and possessed an intuition that more than matched his reasoning. Whatever needed doing, they did it together. They had their own world within the wider world. In their eyes, life could throw nothing at them that they couldn’t endure and survive together, turning fatigue into strength or turmoil into tranquillity.